


Dragon-Hearted

by TerrifiedAristocrat



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 06:42:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11708949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerrifiedAristocrat/pseuds/TerrifiedAristocrat
Summary: Ryuui was here to kill a dragon and here he was with a humanoid dragon, half naked, holding his personal prayer book and making introductions.





	Dragon-Hearted

Ryuuji ‘Dragonslayer’ Suguro stroked his mare’s mane soothingly as she pawed anxiously on the rocky path ahead of them. The air was hot and dry, making Ryuuji swallow harshly. His pulse thudded in his throat uncomfortably as he dismounted his steed. The path ahead was too uneven to continue on horseback. His plate armor shifted heavily and the sun beat down on it, making Ryuuji uncomfortably warm. He clenched his hands and unclenched them, praying quietly under his breath as he began to march.

He wasn’t from this country. The local prince had a problem with a dragon- something that breathed vile blue flames that incinerated everything in their path. Ryuuji had been offered an awfully large amount of money in exchange for the dragon’s heart- money that would be put towards his adopted father’s monastery.  Plus, this dragon was obviously a threat to the people living here, so it should be slain. Ryuuji never felt guilt about the dragons he’d slain before.

What he felt as he approached a looming mountain- where this dragon slept- was not guilt. It was anticipation. He felt like a bead along a rosary, being drawn into the fingers of some cosmic giant. Every nerve in Ryuuji’s body hummed as he approached the mouth of a cave. His boots shifted the gravel, sending uneven pebbles skittering into the darkness. 

For a moment, there was silence.

Then, a pair of eyes glowing in an intense cerulean the likes of which Ryuuji had never seen before emerged from the darkness. Ryuuji did his best to stand his ground as the beast emerged- as tall as a castle with jet black scales and a delicate snout. It's spines were silver and underbelly a pale blue that matched the beast’s eyes along its edges. The beast reared and roared, exhaling a jet of blue flames.

Ryuuji slipped down the cover of his helmet and crossed his arms, spreading his feet apart to create a sturdy stance. His specially made armor resisted the flames, but barely. The heat was almost unbearable, making Ryuuji grit his teeth in pain. He whispered psalms under his breath, his voice turning into a hiss, then a grumble, then a roar of his own. Ryuuji barely was able to suck in enough air to keep praying, sweat pouring down his face and trickling down his spine- was his armor melting? It was specifically made to resist dragon fire, but then again no dragon’s fire was blue before. 

The flames stopped abruptly. Ryuuji’s gaze turned to the beast, who had moved its muzzle close to Ryuuji, too close. He could smell the beast- like fire and meat and some kind of mineral smell that made Ryuuji’s mouth cramp.

“Oh wow, you’re still standing,” a voice commented. Ryuuji furrowed his brow, trying to figure out where the voice came from. He turned his head too quickly and promptly passed out.

——————————————————————————————————————

Ryuuji came to on a soft bed, something far softer than the cots he and his childhood friends Renzou and Konekomaru slept on. This bed felt like a cloud, making Ryuuji groan and roll over to press his face into more of that warm softness. It took Ryuuji a few moments to register that something was wrong.

This feeling was too comfortable for him to be at home relaxing.

Ryuuji sat up with some difficulty- the bed he was in was too soft to permit for quick movement, and he was covered in blankets. Ryuuji whipped them off, taking stock of his condition- his head throbbed from his quick movements and his skin tingled. He was dressed in his plain shirt and breeches that he wore under his armor and what skin was showing was covered in something flakey and white that smelled strongly of lavender.  

“What’s going on?” Ryuuji wondered aloud, his voice hoarse as he looked around. The bed he was on was too huge, larger than any bed he’d ever been on with rich cobalt drapes creating a cave of sorts. Ryuuji peered around one of the drapes and realized he was in a spacious cave with piles of glittering gold items- coins, goblets, jewelry, chests. There was a small throne of sorts with a beautiful man sprawled lazily in it, squinting at a book. The man had messy jet black hair and a neatly chiseled face. He wore nothing but a black cloth wrapped around his waist, which made Ryuuji’s face heat up as he admired neatly toned biceps, as well as a pleasantly sculpted torso. A trail of black hair disappeared into the black waist cloth this man wore, and Ryuuji’s shame for gazing at it was cut off by the stark realization that this man had a tail- something long and black with a gold ring on the end. Upon a second look Ryuuji realized he had clawed hands, which were holding Ryuuji’s personal prayer book.

“Oi, that’s mine,” Ryuuji stumbled out of bed, startling the man into looking up at him. The man’s eyes were the same intense cerulean as the dragon’s, which made Ryuuji’s stomach knot painfully. He’d heard of it before, dragons taking on the form of a human, but he’d never seen it. 

“Huh? Oh hi, you’re awake,” the beast smiled warmly, his while face lighting up with the smile in a way that made Ryuuji’s chest tighten now instead of his stomach. It was weird, and Ryuuji didn’t like it. He stomped over, bare feet slapping against cold stone and his sternest scowl on his face. “Hi, I’m Rin. Nice to meet you,” 

Ryuuji stared at the beast, his scowl turning into a look of absolute confusion. He was here to kill a dragon and here he was with a humanoid dragon, half naked, holding his personal prayer book and making introductions. What the hell was going on? 

“What’s your name?” The beast prompted, amusement coloring the patience in his voice. Ryuuji stomped up to Rin and snatched his prayer book out of the other’s clawed hands.

“My name is Ryuuji of the Suguro house. I’m here to kill you,” he told Rin gruffly, every single nerve in his body tense and humming. His enemy blinked at him in absolute confusion.

“What? Why?” Rin asked, crossing his arms. 

“You’re a monster,” Ryuuji replied with a huff. “You kill and terrorize the people of this country, and I was hired to kill you,” 

“Oh. I thought you were…” Rin trailed off, and rubbed the back of his head. “Man, this is awkward,”

“Awkward?” Ryuuji glanced around for his sword. He’d had enough of this demon’s poisonous words.

“Well, yeah. I was told he was going to send me a suitor-“ 

“A w-what!” Ryuuji shrieked. 

“-But I guess he’s just like my other siblings, power-grubbing and manipulative.” Rin sighed softly, the cheery smile he had on his face dropping rapidly. He looked stony now, his expression difficult to read. Ryuuji spotted his sword and lunged for it. “That sword’s blessed, right?”

“Yeah,” Ryuuji nodded, drawing it and leveling its tip at Rin’s head. The sword was stupidly large for an unarmored soldier to be pointing at another unarmed human, but that was the situation Ryuuji was trapped in.

He hated how resigned Rin looked.

“Well, best get on with it then,” he muttered, glancing to the side. “I was told this would happen some day. I’d just thought…. I dunno. Maybe that I could do something,”

“Yeah? Like what?” Ryuuji wanted to know.

“Like… Like stop the dragons from killing humans and make some kind of peace or something!” Rin blurted, getting up and starting to pace (instead of running away, which is what would have been Ryuuji’s choice if he was in Rin’s place)

“And why would a dragon like you want to do that?” Ryuuji wanted to know.

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” Rin replied. He then scowled. “Hey, can you lower that thing so I can explain what’s going on?”

“No,” Ryuuji shook his head. Rin sighed, and drooped his shoulders.

“Fine. Then just kill me and get it over with,” he told Ryuuji flatly. “If I’m going to be killed by someone, it may as well be you,”

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?” Ryuuji shouted. Rin glared up at him, those intense eyes locking on his own and holding his gaze.

“I told you, are you going to listen to me or are you going to kill me? Pick one,” he told Ryuuji with the kind of finality that made the soldier shudder slightly. After a tense moment, Ryuuji lowered his sword.

“My shoulder hurts,” he told Rin flatly.

“I have a salve for that,” Rin remarked brightly. Ryuuji made a face. “Well? Do you want it?”

“Why would you do that for me?” Ryuuji asked suspiciously.

“Because,” Rin stood and walked over to a chest and opened it, pulling out a small tin of something. “I just have a feeling. Now let me see your shoulder,”

Ryuuji froze for a moment, weighing his options. He was still thinking when Rin walked over to him and started ushering him towards the stupidly large bed. He made Ryuuji sit down on the bed and promptly started to take off Ryuuji’s shirt, which made the soldier smack his hands away and make a noise that sounded only slightly manlier than a squeak of protest. 

“I can undress myself thank you!” Ryuuji hissed.

“Then get to it!” Rin huffed. Ryuuji grumbled and complied, since there weren’t many other pleasant options. He couldn’t help but notice that Rin was watching him rather intently.

“Why are you staring?” He asked as he pulled his shirt off with a wince. Rin sat down on the bed next to him and began very carefully smoothing on an oily salve that smelled strongly like cloves and pepper. It made Ryuuji’s skin warm almost instantly, combined with the heat that was coming off of Rin in a horribly relaxing combination.

“Hm? Oh, right. I was just thinking that it would be nice if you actually were a suitor that Mephisto sent-“

“Wait, wait wait, Mephisto?” Ryuuji paused. “That’s your brother’s name?”

“Hyeah,” Rin snickered. “Stupid name, right? It’s not even his real name- his actual name is like Samuel or something. I don’t remember, ‘cuz I don’t like him,” 

“And he has a strange curly thing on his head-“

“Oh yeah, that. And don’t get me started on-“

“He sent me.” Ryuuji cut Rin off. “He told me if I brought back your heart, my family’s monastery and inn would be given enough gold to keep them running and in business,”

Rin paused.

“Oh,” he remarked quietly, still rubbing Ryuuji’s shoulder. Ryuuji found that he didn’t really care at that point, his brain too focused on figuring out what was going on.

“So either he lied to you about the suitor thing or he didn’t explain the situation to me properly,” Ryuuji said slowly. The third option was that Rin was lying about everything in general, which didn’t feel all too right. There was something about him that felt too open, too honest. “Why would you need a suitor?”

“To get married,” Rin replied.

“I know that, but why is it a big deal that your brother would have sent one? And if you thought that’s what I was, why did you try and flame-broil me earlier?” Ryuuji demanded.

“Well to answer the second question, that’s a test to see if you’r suitor material,” Rin explained. 

“What?” Ryuuji furrowed his brow.

“And for the first question, it’s a dragon thing. See, my father, King of Dragons, has a lot of sons. I’m the youngest, but the only one who has my dad’s blue flames- all the others have your classic red flames. Well, except for Mephisto and his weird older brother we don’t talk about. Since most of my brothers are running around doing dragon things, the idea is if I get married I can maneuver political power and overtake father’s throne,” Rin explained.

“And this Mephisto guy is okay with this?k” Ryuuji frowned.

“Uhhhh he’s. I think as long as he’s entertained he doesn’t give a damn,” Rin replied. Ryuuji was reminded of his friend Renzou and felt a sudden pang of loneliness.

He had a job to do.

“Well either way, I need to make sure my family and our monetary doesn’t end up bankrupt,” Ryuuji rumbled. 

“Then marry me. All this gold is my dowry,” Rin gestured to the heaps of gold piled in his cave. 

“I can’t just marry you! I don’t even know you!” Ryuuji balked, his face flushing. “Unless marriage for dragons is different from people…”

“Well, it could be?” Rin shrugged. “Part of it is already done, with the trial to see if you’re dragon-hearted. And there’s some other stuff too- I don’t see why you’re making such a big deal about this,”

“I….” Ryuuji thrust his head in between his hands. “I have to think about this.”

“Oh,” Rin stepped back and frowned. He almost looked sad, which was the oddest part about this. That was what was upsetting Ryuuji the most- he’d just met this person, and he was accepting and assuming that Ryuuji was going to marry him. Ryuuji was a famous dragon slayer! He couldn’t just marry this dragon (handsome as he was)

But…

Ryuuji flopped back on the bed, letting it swallow him in its ultra-plush grip. His shoulder felt much better, but Ryuuji felt physically tired. Mentally, his brain ticked away incessantly. He felt Rin sit down on the bed close to his head and sighed softly.

“So what made you decide to kill dragons?” Rin asked.

“You said your dad was the King of Dragons, right?” Ryuuji asked. 

“Yeah,” Rin muttered, sounding displeased by that fact.

“Well, he went on this rampage when I was little, burned down most of my village and destroyed a lot of the family’s monastery. Ever since, our parishioners have been terrified that it will happen again. That’s an awful feeling, seeing your friends and family suffering because they do not know when imminent doom is going to rain down on them, you know? So I trained to be a dragon slayer so I could ease the fears of those who I loved,” Ryuuji explained. 

Rin was quiet, and Ryuuji fell silent himself. 

“I’m sorry,” Rin murmured softly. “My dad’s an asshole. That’s why I wanna overthrow him.”

“That would be a good kind of revenge, right?” Ryuuji remarked after a moment or so of silence. “If you overthrew him, I mean,”

“Hey, if you don’t want to marry me that’s okay. This was a really big misunderstanding and I’d just be happy if you didn’t kill me-“ 

“No, listen,” Ryuuji sat up with some struggle, twisting to look at Rin.  “I wanted to marry for love and stuff but with me running around doing heroic stuff, that’s kinda hard,”

“It is?” Rin tipped his head. Ryuuji made a face and continued.

“Humans marry for political reasons all the time. As long as my family stays safe, I want to do everything I can to help you kick your old man’s ass,” Ryuuji grinned slowly, and Rin fell in love. “So what do you say?”

“Yeah,” Rin smiled back, something full of sunlight and exuberance that made Ryuuji’s chest squeeze happily. “Let’s do it!” 

**Author's Note:**

> IDEK if there will be more of this or not????? ??? ??


End file.
